Caramel Bars (No-Oven)

These caramel bars is scrumptious and sweet bar made of all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, butter,egg, milk powder, condensed milk and cashews. If you are one of those who went crazy for Max’s caramel bars, we feel you! Caramel bars is one of the Filipino’s favorite desserts. This fudgy and chewy caramel bars will give you the nutty and buttery treat which will leave you satisfied! If you got curious on how to make your own caramel bar version, you are in the right place.

NO-OVEN CARAMEL BARS

Max’s Restaurant is one of our family bonding places. After attending the Sunday mass, it is automatically Max’s where we eat our breakfast. Caramel bars is that one dish needed to be present every time we eat there. My niece is specifically the one who likes it the most. It is a must to order some for takeout which will be enjoyed during as our midday snack.

Since the pandemic happened and dining in restaurants are not encouraged, my niece is always requesting me to make some caramel bars inspired by Max’s. With my niece knowing that I am very fond of “unlocking” restaurant-style recipes, making these caramel bars became a challenge to me since I needed to make them straight out of memory. I started to imagine its sweetness and nuttiness, and I even end up dreaming about it. Since then, I began experimenting with little batches and have several trial and errors before I came up with this perfect Max’s-inspired caramel bars. 

Caramel bars are a classic dessert. When compared to brownies, instead of the chocolate-y goodness, caramel bars has this perfect amount of caramel-y and sweet goodness which best eaten as a dessert for an ultimate satisfaction. Aside from the caramel flavor, this fudgy treat is also known with its nutty and crunchy flavor brought by the nice dose of cashew nuts in it.

HOW TO COOK NO-OVEN CARAMEL BARS

Another time to unleash the baker in you with this simple and easy caramel bar recipe! My niece is very impressed as I was able to make her some of her favorite Max’s-inspired caramel bars. Homemade caramel bars are honestly easy to make. If you have tried making brownies in the past, you would probably be familiar with some of the following steps.

Start by combining the wet and the dry ingredients into two separate bowls. You can modify the amount of sugar based on how sweet you like your caramel bars to be. We modify the sugar and not the condensed milk since we want to achieve that milky and creamy flavor. When choosing your condensed milk, I recommend to use the thickest one you can get. This will make the caramel bar chewy and fudgy. Also, make sure that the melted butter is at room temperature and is not hot. Or else, this will cook some of your batter and will form some lumps, especially that you have eggs in the batter. Combine the dry ingredients gradually to the wet mixture. Use the folding method of mixing to prevent over-mixing the batter which will end up with a hard and tough brownies. This will also help incorporate some air in the batter, giving just the right texture for your caramel bars. The batter is basically done.

Prepare your pan and line it with parchment paper. You can grease them using oil or butter in case parchment paper is not available. Caramel bars are sticky, and the liners make the bars easier to remove from the pan for later. Pour half of the batter and sprinkle with some cashews for some surprise crunch in every bite. This is what my niece really adores with Max’s caramel bars. The gorgeous amount of cashews is what she lives for. Being a fan of cashews and Max’s restaurant, my niece specifically reminded me to put A LOT of cashews in the caramel bars. Well, this recipe is really for her so let’s listen to the boss. Pour the rest of the batter and again, sprinkle a gorgeous amount of cashews. You can actually try to use different types of nuts like almonds and hazelnuts if those are the ones available.

Using this recipe, I was able to make two pans of caramel bars. It can serve a lot of people especially if you have guests. To bake the caramel bars, here is a no-oven hack where Yummy Kitchen is known for. Simple preheat a pan with a wire rack inside to simulate the environment of an oven. Place the caramel bar inside and let it bloom to perfection. Remember to do the toothpick test to check if the caramel bars are cooked up to the core. These bars are a bit thick and is prone to being half-baked. Cool the caramel bars to room temperature before cutting into squares and serving. They are much better and fudgy when chilled! Enjoy this treat which you surely cannot resist!

How to Cook Caramel Bars without Oven (TAGALOG)

MGA SANGKAP:

• 2 tasa ng harina
• 1 kutsarita ng baking powder
• ½ kutsarita ng asin
• 1 tasa ng asukal
• 1 tasa ng unsalted butter (tinunaw)
• 1 itlog
• 3 pula ng itlog
• 1 tasa ng milk powder
• 1 lata (390g) ng condensed milk
• kasoy (para sa toppings)

PAANO LUTUIN:

1. Sa isang malaking bowl, paghaluin ang harina, asin at baking powder. Haluin ang dry ingredients ng mabuti.
2. Sa isa pang bowl, paghaluin ang puting asukal, tinunaw na unsalted butter, pula ng itlog, milk powder at condensed milk. Haluin ang wet ingredients ng mabuti.
3. Ilagay ang kalahati ng dry mixture sa bowl ng wet mixture. Gumamit ng spatula para ma-fold ang mixture at hindi ma-overmix. Ilagay ang natitirang dry mixture at i-fold ng mabuti.
4. Kumuha ng 8×8” pan at lagyan ng parchment paper. Ilagay ang kalahati ng batter at pantayin. Budburan ng kasoy. Ilagay ang natitirang batter at i-tap para pumatag.
5. Para ma-bake gamit ang kaldero, painitin at takpan ang kaldero gamit ang mataas na apoy ng 7 hanggang 10 minuto. Maglagay ng wire rack sa loob at dito ipatong ang baking pan. Hayaan itong maluto ng 35 hanggang 45 minuto. Gawin ang toothpick test para ma-check kung luto na ang loob.
6. Para ma-bake gamit ang oven, i-preheat ang oven ng 350F o 180C at hayaang maluto ang caramel bars ng 30 hanggang 35 minuto.
7. Alisin ang caramel bars sa baking pan at hayaan itong lumamig.
8. Hiwain ang caramel bar sa squares. Palamigin ito sa ref para maging mas fudgy. Enjoy!